Ghastly Bespoke walked down the street to his shop, pausing every now and then to acknowledge a nod or hello from his neighbours. He hadn't been there in quite a while, the role of Elder was taking up so much of his time and he had had so many cravings to sew in the past few months. There was a break for him when his friends to him to have a break, he was brooding far too much for Ravel's liking and Skulduggery was even getting slightly annoyed with his good friend. Now he could go make Valkyrie's new suit, she was growing again, damn teenagers. And Skulduggery had also requested a new tuxedo, for whatever reason the detective had, Ghastly had stopped asking what for a long time ago. Who knew what the man did in his spare time.
His shop looked so dirty from out the front, no signs, nothing immediately pointing to the fact that it was a tailor. He walked to it briskly, excited to finally have a chance to work, when someone out the corner of his eye made him freeze. They were standing near his shop, leaning against a telegraph pole in black leather. Tanith. Ghastly stopped in shock for a moment, before breaking into a run, rushing to his front door and struggled to unlock it. His eyes watered as he tried to not look at the woman who was calmly walking towards him. He could not let her affect him, she was a Remnant, she was evil, and she was not Tanith, she-
"Well, if I thought you would be this unhappy to see me, maybe I would have turned up sooner."
His huge shoulders shook with anger and hurt as the voice of Tanith filled his ears. Her beautiful voice that he had given up on hearing. She was beside him now, standing casually next to his muscular form, giving him all the time in the world to take her down. But his hands were shaking too much to fight, his eyes watering from her presence. He shook his head at her; he would not give that creature the satisfaction of his voice breaking. A small hand touched his shoulder gently and rubbed, giving him the sense that Tanith was back, was there to comfort and hold him. But his glance ruined the illusion; the Remnant was smiling through Tanith, knowing his pain and feeding it.
"Better come inside, my love. People will start getting suspicious if you start crying like a girl out here. If I really wanted to hurt you, trust me, you would already be dead."
Ghastly nodded and opened to door, giving her the space to enter first as his chivalry got the better of him. Tanith giggled and walked forward, being sure to sway sexually in front of him. But despite the attraction he felt for the body, it was Tanith he wanted, not some monster in her skin.
"Where's your boyfriend, not far away I imagine, he's probably how you got past all the wards. What do you want, Tanith?"
He tried to get to the point straight away, but her name slipped past his lips absently and he bit his lip in regret when she turned and smiled. That was Tanith, standing in front of him, he just had to reach out and touch her. She was grinning at him but it was cruel, mocking. She knew the pain she was causing just by being in the same room.
"Aww you're not saying you haven't missed me, darling? I think you still owe me a steak. I left Billy a few blocks away, he won't know anything."
At her last word, Tanith glided towards Ghastly, her arms wrapping themselves around his waist to kiss his chest. His face turned upwards in happiness, but the pain that he felt overpowered it, like a knife jabbing straight into the place those soft lips touched. And yet he couldn't bring himself to shove her away. He spoke but his voice came out quiet and gravelly, smothered by sadness and guilt.
"Let go, Remnant. I have no interest in being another puppet. Go back to Sanguine, I'm sure he would appreciate a kiss from this body, but I don't care for it anymore."
Ghastly felt the lips on his chest turn upwards in a smile, knowing he had not been convincing in the slightest. Tanith's face looked up at him and her hands rose and grabbed his face. He knew what she was about to do, but he couldn't stop as those lips came against his, moving suggestively. He didn't fight her and kissed back passionately, forgetting what and who she was, bringing his arms tightly around her and bringing her closer to him. He forgot everything about the world, except the woman he held in his arms and lips that kissed him. A chuckle against his mouth interrupted his moment of blissful ignorance, abruptly letting go of Tanith as his senses came back to him. Tanith stumbled back, her chuckle turning into laughter that echoed painfully in his ears.
"Oh Ghastly, is it really this simple? To offer this body and you will answer to my every call? You sorcerers think so much of yourselves but I could bring you all down just like this, in this body. Maybe you're of no use to me after all, maybe if you're this easily manipulated you have no future in my plans. Silly Ghastly Bespoke, who thought for one moment that he had the woman back, with one touch."
Her words stung him and he could do nothing but shake his head in pointless denial. She was right, for that moment, he had Tanith, the real Tanith. But his weakness had cost him, the pain he felt from her loss was stronger, his Tanith would never mock him like this. The Remnant was destroying her memory, the very essence of the woman he loved was slowly moving out of existence. And this thing was taking her place. Tanith continued to laugh as he struggled to overcome the emotions that threatened to take him, but in one second she had stopped laughing and walked towards to door.
"Goodbye Ghastly, it's been so much fun. Maybe I'll visit again soon. You think Tanith is gone, but she's right here, you're just refusing to accept that I'm the better version. Maybe we should do more next time; I think you'll learn to like me."
Her exit from the room had Ghastly fall to his knees, his hands and shoulders shaking with repressed emotions. His face screwed up in pain and he knew it made him even uglier. But he didn't care, he was alone now and his sadness finally caught up, a howl of rage and agony echoing around and out of the building as it faded into violent yet silent sobbing into the floor of his shop.
The Remnant heard the scream as it walked away, smiling to itself, knowing that this was just the beginning. She would crush Ghastly Bespoke's spirit entirely; it was just a matter of time.